Teens' foreign exchange experience in Capay Valley comes full circle

Ella Rose Eldon's last two years of high school were a little bit international, despite coming from the small town of Brooks.

The 17-year-old recent graduate spent a semester of her junior year in New Zealand and when she returned to Esparto High School for her senior year, she knew she wanted to host an exchange student. Wilma Hjerppe, 18 and from Finland, became like family for Eldon during her year in the Capay Valley.

After going on an Alaskan cruise in 2012 and not knowing anybody, Eldon wanted to experience it "longer than 10 days" and decided to study abroad. She chose New Zealand, partly because English is the primary language but also because it was far from Esparto High, where she had known most students since age 4.

While in New Zealand, she lived on a North Island sheep farm. Despite the rural setting, her school was different with more students, many with whom she made friends. It was also Catholic school that required uniforms.

With some of the other students in the foreign exchange program AFS, she went parasailing, bungee jumping and kayaking on the South Island.

"That's where I got to meet all these other cool exchange students and I think that's when I decided I wanted to host when I came back," Eldon said.

While she was nearly 7,000 miles away from home, Eldon said she was only homesick once. It helped that she had a good relationship with her host mother.

Going abroad will also help Eldon when she attends college out of state in the fall at University of Colorado Boulder, where she plans to major in international relations and eventually study abroad again — perhaps in Europe.

"As long as I find a support system, I'll be fine," she said, referring to college.

Eldon's mother, Julie Rose, said the community was "very inviting and accepting" for their exchange student, Hjerppe.

This isn't the first time that Eldon and her family hosted an exchange student. Rose and her husband have used their home in the Capay Valley as a "refuge," renting out rooms and hosting two previous exchange students. Rose was also an exchange student herself.

Hjerppe was at first undecided on whether she wanted to do an exchange program. She didn't know if it was worth it to have to make up school since going abroad puts her a year back but heard positive stories from older exchange students. She also wanted to go somewhere they spoke English and decided on California.

"It's been different than in Finland but it's great," she said, adding that her school there is in a big city.

Rose said Hjerppe was flexible the moment she arrived in California — going on a vacation with the family to Tahoe and Santa Cruz. In addition, when Rose was taking care of an ill family member during the school year, Eldon provided support to Hjerppe and vice versa.

While Hjerppe was quiet at first, she and Eldon bonded as sisters would, starting with a trip to see "Les Miserables" at the Woodland Opera House.

Rose said Hjerppe also supported Eldon after her daughter competed and lost in the 99th Annual Almond Queen contest in February. She was the only one not to get an award — the others received Almond Queen, runner-up and Miss Congeniality.

Rose thought the judging criteria was skewed. While she supports the pageant, she said there is room for changes in coming years.

Hjerppe said the Almond Queen Pageant was not like anything she had experienced in Finland. She said overall, though, "your exchange year should be (spent) trying new things."

She has liked living in Brooks although it is more isolated. Eldon has a car but Hjerppe decided one day to bike to Cache Creek Casino and take the bus to Woodland and wander around there.

She's visited more of the state and region, including San Francisco, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and Yosemite.

Hjerppe found that she was able to discover herself more while abroad.

"You have one personality in Finland and then you come here and nobody knows you. So you can just start over again," she said.

Said Eldon: "In my exchange, I definitely became a lot more self-confident. I think going to the same school my whole life, I've never really had to define myself. I've always been a little bit weird."

In New Zealand, she got nicknames like "Apples" for her apple sunglasses, Ellifornia and Murica.

She added, "I definitely became more of myself."

But it was an adjustment for Eldon when she returned to Esparto, such as experiencing different interactions with teachers and people noticing that she changed.

"I think having an exchange student really helps," she said. "I think I would have been a little bit more negative without an exchange student."

Hjerppe said it's going to be rough going back but in a full circle experience, her family plans to take in an exchange student.